Job Openings

Please read below to learn more about current opportunites.

Becoming an Impact Instructor

All of our classes are taught by a team of instructors: a lead "whistle" instructor and a “suited” instructor, who acts as a mock assailant. Being an Impact instructor is a serious commitment. Our instructors receive approximately 100 hours of training, consisting of both classroom instruction and time spent teaching classes under supervision of a certified instructor. All instructors must pass a background check and be interviewed by several staff members before starting the training process. We provide considerable mentorship to instructor trainees, and we would be happy to tell you more about it. Please note that we only train instructors to teach at Impact Bay Area. We do not train instructors to teach independently or offer "train the trainer" programs.

If you are interested in joining our instructor team, please read the information on this page thoroughly and complete the information at the bottom so we can contact you.

Suited Instructors

We are actively seeking new suited instructors.

Being a suited instructor is a difficult and immensely rewarding job. The teaching days are long, sometimes 9-10 hours, and the suit weighs approximately 40 lbs. Besides being physically demanding, the job is emotionally taxing. Suited instructors are called upon to enact all sorts of scenarios, from verbal street harassment to muggings to sexual assaults. In addition to acting like assailants, they are also instructors, and have a supportive role coaching students on technique.

The reward for this work is the opportunity to see students, often survivors of assault, find their voices and their strength over the course of about 24 hours. The change in students from the first day of class to the last is frequently dramatic and profound.

All of our instructors work in teams, and being able to set aside your own agenda and ego is a crucial qualification for this position.

Training is approximately 100 hours, and lasts 6-9 months (part time). Training is compensated at $15/hour, and certified instructors are paid $25-$30/hour.

To learn more about becoming a suited instructor, please fill out the form below or contact us at info@impactbayarea.org

Internship Opportunities

IMPACT Bay Area is a 501(c)(3) non-profit looking for an intern passionate about empowering women through boundary setting and full force self-defense. Because we are such a small organization, this internship will give you the opportunity to see the real and immediate effects of your work in giving women, and people of all ages, a voice.

Interns will be responsible for a wide variety of tasks including keeping class rosters up to date and entering post-class evaluations and demographic information into excel spreadsheets. In addition, interns will attend post-class, public celebrations to sell t-shirts and speak with students and their supporters. IMPACT is also looking for someone interested in helping us increase our social media presence by writing content and crafting emails for marketing and outreach. Finally, interns may have the opportunity to assist instructors in one-hour self-defense introduction classes.

Because IMPACT does not have an office space or centralized location, a vast majority of communication for this internship will be done through email and conference calls. As a result, interns should be self-starting, motivated, and be able to work independently. Benefits of this internship include a free self-defense class with IMPACT Bay Area, letters of recommendation, and LinkedIn reviews.

The time commitment for this position could vary anywhere between 10 and 20 hours per week, but we are flexible and would be willing to work around your schedule. Experience with Microsoft Excel would be helpful, though it is not required.

Everyone deserves to be safe. Impact Bay Area does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical ability, financial circumstances or abuse history. We are a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to providing self-defense and empowerment training to Bay Area and Northern California communities. We welcome everyone who wants to learn personal safety and self-defense.